Season 8 filming: Game of Thrones loads into the ruins of Italica (the Dragonpit)

Among the many places HBO is filming scenes for the eighth and final season of Game of Thrones are the Roman ruins of Italica, which fans know best as the Dragonpit. Below, you can see the ancient Roman amphitheater, the place where many of the key players held a summit meeting in the season 7 finale, in its unmolested state:

We don’t know what the production will film in this historical site, but we know they’ll be shooting there for nearly a month, and that they’ll start towards the end of April. As we can see in pictures taken by Twitter’s own Dani Llanos, the crew is already setting up, blocking off select areas and putting up warning signs for tourists:

They’ve also started to build a new structure on top of the pit in the center of the amphitheater, as this photo from va stark shows:

The mystery of what will happen here is a tantalizing one. If the production stays anywhere for a month, it usually means it’s shooting something complicated, like an action scene. But there’s been no call for extras, and the logistics of filming an action sequence in a location with this much historical significance could be complex. All we know now is that the show is returning to this key location, and that it will take its time.

Next: Video from Magheramorne Quarry: Flaming swords on horseback

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h/t Watchers on the Wall